Trump-appointed NIH Chief Operating Officer fired in corruption probe

[Tanuki]

He was obviously unqualified for the position in the first place, but what else is new under the current regime?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025/07/15/nih-leader-fired-amid-contract-probe/

"A senior National Institutes of Health leader was fired Monday amid an investigation into a contract on autism and other topics that could have benefited his spouse, according to three officials familiar with the incident who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

A $3.3 million NIH contract to a Louisiana company, Argo Chasing, named Trish Duffy Schnabel, the wife of the NIH’s chief operating officer on its list of staff, according to the officials. The award, made in early July, supports work on several matters including autism, a topic that is a priority of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

On Monday afternoon, NIH’s chief operating officer, Eric Schnabel, was escorted out of the building just three months into his new job, according to the officials. An HHS spokesman declined to comment on a personnel matter.
....

Eric Schnabel joined NIH as chief operating officer in April after 25 years in the Army. In the email announcing his arrival, NIH director Jay Bhattacharya said Schnabel had held “pivotal security and operations roles within the Army, the Department of Defense and corporate America” and emphasized that he would play a key role at NIH in “detecting, deterring and responding to threats.”...(more)